Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,662 Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. increased its position in Vistra by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 2,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vistra by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vistra by 3.0% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Vistra by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $202.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vistra from $135.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vistra from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Vistra to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.83.

Insider Activity

In other Vistra news, Director John William Pitesa acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $126.75 per share, for a total transaction of $190,125.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,467 shares in the company, valued at $439,442.25. This represents a 76.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul M. Barbas sold 24,136 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.19, for a total transaction of $2,997,449.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,341,513.97. This represents a 32.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vistra Price Performance

VST stock opened at $124.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.40. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $60.73 and a 1 year high of $199.84.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.2235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Vistra’s dividend payout ratio is 12.62%.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.